Survey of B.C. parents finds one in five teens is cyberbullied

Gillian Shaw, Vancouver Sun10.30.2012

A survey of B.C. parents shows one in five B.C. teens admits to being cyberbullied. But that may not represent the full scope of the problem, since teens likely don’t report all instances of bullying to adults.

More than one in five British Columbia parents say their teens have been cyberbullied and close to two-thirds say their children have been victims of traditional bullying, according to a survey released Monday.

The figures represent an escalation in reported incidents of both cyberbullying and traditional bullying, according to Steve Mossop, president of market research firm Insights West, which conducted the survey for 6S, a Vancouver digital marketing company.

Since children don’t report all instances of bullying to their parents, the figures — which found 23 per cent of teens say they’ve been cyberbullied and 58 per cent admit to being traditionally bullied — probably represent a minimum, he added.

“There are a couple of famous polls in the United States that have tackled this before and their numbers were smaller, they were around five or 10 per cent for cyberbullying,” Mossop said in an interview. “Our numbers suggest it is quite a bit higher.

“I think it is an alarming number, it is a significant concern. Twenty-three per cent to me is high and if anything it’s underestimated,” said Mossop.

Carol Todd, mother of 15-year-old Amanda Todd, who killed herself on Oct. 10, about a month after releasing a YouTube video in which she documented years of cyberbullying that spilled into her real life, said parents may not realize traditional bullying often migrates online.

“A lot of the face-to-face bullying ends up as cyberbullying,” said Todd.

The proliferation of smartphones and other mobile computing devices means children and youth can be online at all hours, not just when they’re home on a computer, she said.

“When we talk about cyberbullying, people think it is all about computers — it’s not just computers. Right now, even as we’re talking, someone who knew Amanda is Facebooking me and I know he is in school.”

Todd said parents whose children don’t have a smartphone or other Internet-connected device can’t be assured their children aren’t online while they’re away from home.“Even if they don’t have one, kids will borrow their friend’s smartphone and log onto their Facebook through their friend’s phone,” she said.

Chris Breikss, 6S Marketing president and co-founder, said his industry must step forward to voice concern over cyberbullying and support anti-bullying initiatives.

“I even see the level of harassment and bullying at an adult level,” said Breikss. “I’m 36 and I see it all the time.”

“I think the Amanda Todd story really brought cyberbullying to the forefront of our attention and it has made a lot of us, especially those who work in the industry, say ‘what can we do to raise awareness?’ ”

While one Canadian Facebook user lost his job after posting an inappropriate comment on a Facebook page set up in Amanda’s memory, Breikss said young people may not realize posting hateful comments could put their future in jeopardy.

“I don’t think parents realize the risk,” he said. “Maybe their child is at risk of being on the other side — their child could be the (bully).”

Young people aren’t the only ones who suffer at the hands of cyberbullies.

According to the Insights West/6S Marketing survey, eight per cent of adults say they have been cyberbullied, a number that climbs to 12 per cent among those who use Facebook or Twitter at least once a day. Among adults, cyberbullying is more prevalent among the 18 to 34-year-old age group, with 15 per cent in that group reporting being cyberbullied compared to seven per cent among those aged 35 to 54 and four per cent among the 55-plus age group.

The survey indicates B.C. residents think countering cyberbullying needs to be a joint effort including youth, parents, educators, police and the government.

Among adults in B.C., 46 per cent use Facebook on a daily basis, a figure that jumps to 64 per cent among those aged 18 to 34, according to Insights West. Among adults aged 35 to 44, half use Facebook daily. Facebook use is higher for B.C. adults who have teens living in their household, at 58 per cent compared to 43 per cent for adults in households with no teens.

Mossop said the survey of 504 online B.C. adults is considered accurate plus or minus 4.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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